Denounce Teachers Who Harass Military Dependent

[thedrifter]

02-26-2003

Denounce Teachers Who Harass Military Dependents


By Matthew Dodd



The ?Axis of Evil? has some potential new members masquerading as elementary school teachers in Maine.



According to extensive news reports corroborated by various state officials, children of soldiers from practically every region of Maine who have deployed to the Persian Gulf are being harassed by public school teachers, principals and guidance counselors because their parents are, ?bad people for participating in an unethical war with Iraq.? In some cases, the targeted students are as young as 7-9 years old.



News articles have appeared in the Bangor Daily News, MaineToday.com news website and on local TV station websites in Maine. However, the initial news reports curiously understate the incidents, citing officials? requests that teachers ?be sensitive to the emotions of students in military families? ? rather than demanding that they halt their outrageous behavior. And that is exactly what it is: an intolerable and cowardly abuse of power by taxpayer-funded public school employees.



A letter sent by a senior Maine Army National Guard official to reporters exposing this disturbing trend reads as follows:

?Thank you for your interest on this most troubling matter. Our Family Assistance Centers have reported cases from Aroostook County to Southern Maine. We are reluctant to give out specific schools and the individuals involved in the interest of giving the education community a chance to address the problem itself. Also, parents wanted the opportunity to pursue the issue through their local school boards first.

?In all, we have over thirty complaints that name schools and individual principals, teachers and guidance counselors. If one considers that these complaints come from just the parents who attended our briefings and only from children who told their parents, we are concerned that the problem may be more widespread than we know.

?We are recording the complaints, and I will personally visit these educators to express our concern as a professional organization and ask for their cooperation.

?Ultimately, our main concern and first responsibility is the safety of our children during these uncertain times. Maine has a core of dedicated and professional educators, but we will challenge any individual who places our children at risk due to their own political ideologies.?



In a memo to superintendents of schools and principals on Feb. 25, 2003, Maine Education Commissioner J. Duke Albanese acknowledged the allegations exposed by the Maine Army National Guard:

?Currently, our nation is experiencing a time of great uncertainties related to U.S. relations with Iraq. People have diverse perspectives and viewpoints regarding how to best resolve this conflict and the challenges it poses at home and abroad. As a democratic society we believe in the right to discuss controversial issues and express ideas and opinions freely in a civil manner.

?Recently, it has been brought to our attention that some school personnel around the State may have been less than sensitive to children of military families regarding our continued strained relations with Iraq. In some situations, parents - who are about to be deployed - have observed added stress and anxiety among their children who perceive a school staff member or their peers as being insensitive to their beliefs and the potential danger to their loved ones. Regarding instruction, most educators are being careful in their teaching about America?s response to Iraq, although some reports indicate otherwise.

?These reports have been shared by parents with National Guard personnel as gatherings have been held at Family Assistance Centers around the state. Discussion of these incidents has fueled some strained feelings from affected families toward schools.

?After discussions with Adjutant General and Commissioner Brigadier Joseph E. Tinkham II, I am asking you to remind school personnel that these are difficult times for our nation and that the families of military personnel need our sensitivity. As educational leaders in your community, you may receive calls, e-mail messages, or other forms of communication from people who are concerned about this issue. As you respond to the public or advise your district?s educators and other staff, I encourage you to emphasize the importance of:

* creating and maintaining a supportive climate that is sensitive to all children and their families in these unsettled times;

* providing balanced information in classrooms and other settings that present the differing perspectives of Americans regarding how our nation responds to Iraq. The content and discussion should allow for questions and differences of opinions, yet be grounded in civil discourse and mutual respect. Age and developmental appropriateness of materials are also important; and

* encouraging school counselors, nurses, and social workers to acknowledge the emotional and physical needs and concerns expressed by children and families involved with the Armed Services.

?Ensuring the emotional and physical safety of all of Maine?s students is first and foremost on all of our minds. I appreciate your support in these unsettled times and thank you in advance for offering guidance and support for our children and parents, particularly those who are directly affected by military service to our nation.?

A quick review of the hundreds of internet message board postings in a few days showed how intense and emotionally-charged this issue has become for many concerned parents and responsible educators. Let me share with you the most appropriate postings I was able to find:

* ?Where does "Opinion" end and "TRAITORISM" begin??


* ?These [educators] are the people who will remove a book from the school library if one student feels uncomfortable about a few words in the book. How intolerant they are and how hypocritical!!?

* ?Being as how I am on active duty and am stationed in a city that is heavily populated by DoD personnel, I have the privilege of not having to deal with a bunch of antiwar crap happening in the middle of the city and [enjoy] a support net of many, many like people. With that said, I cannot imagine a concerted effort by local teachers to harass and belittle the child of a service member. I cannot imagine the horror of a child that ? has a parent plucked out of his/her life to go far away and maybe not come back.?

* ?I think that Laura Bush needs to be informed. Right after 9/11 [Mrs. Bush] made some appearances on television suggesting to parents and teachers to be sure to let their children know that they were loved and that they were safe. At our DoDDS school in Stuttgart, Germany, every teacher got a special message from Laura Bush instructing us about ways to help protect the children from the trauma. I am sure she would be interested in this case. That teachers would ever do such a thing is despicable!?

* ?Incidents like these do not help those of us in teaching who are sensitive to the situations and needs of our students. I not only have students whose parents are in the military and have been called up, but I have several Muslim children from Pakistan and Afghanistan. Talk about having to walk a tightrope. Since we are not far from the Pentagon and much of our school population is military, I have to watch the war talk so that the Muslim children are not offended.?

* ?From Webster's Dictionary: Treason ? 2. violation of the allegiance owed to one?s sovereign or state; betrayal of one?s country, specifically, in the U.S. (as declared in the Constitution), consisting only in levying war against the U.S. or in GIVING AID AND COMFORT TO ITS ENEMIES ? If this is not giving aid and comfort to the enemy, I don't know what is.?



* ?This kind of ANTI-AMERICAN propaganda is not just in Maine .? Right here in South Carolina, my son came home from 4th grade and told me that the counselor said that it was ?evil? for us to go to war with Iraq. I went ?controlled? ballistic - I'm on the mobilization list for Army retirees and my wife is a GULF WAR I veteran .? ?



For updated messages on this topic, I recommend you visit the ?Winds of Change? website.



To potentially make matters even worse, a few message board postings mentioned identical issues in Kansas and Texas. I was unable to confirm or deny those additional allegations. Although I have no proof, I am also not na?ve enough to think that this sort of blatant, hurtful, anti-war behavior is confined within the borders of Maine.



Finally, I felt it fitting to include one particularly inspiring message board posting that perfectly captured my feelings and perspectives:



?This [issue] needs to be splattered all over America to prevent other teachers in other states from traumatizing other children ?. Congress should also be informed that these children of service members are being abused in this way ?. I'm going to send this to Senator [John] Warner, and disseminate it ? so that others are aware that the ?education elite? are harming little ones by bashing the military, and their own families.?



Lt. Col. Matthew Dodd USMC is a Senior Editor of DefenseWatch. He can be reached at mattdodd1775@hotmail.com.


Sempers,

Roger

[thedrifter]

Please send State Education Commissioner Duke
Albanese's email addres out to our fellow veteran's.
Ask them to send him an e-mail to take more appropiate
action in relation to these teachers.

Here is his e-mail address: duke.albanese@maine.gov

Our schools are not the appropiate forum for political
opinions.

If you do not support the war, at least suppourt our
Troops.

Thanks,
Robin M. Babcock
HM1/USN/Ret DAV


Sempers,

Roger

[catman]

Message sent, thanks Roger!

Trav

[Hawk]

message sent.

[Arrow]

my reply to m last night on this:

My guess is that we are at the beginning of the end of "Nation States." Most of what I hear coming from the academic community is "global community". This is the mantra that is being chanted through out our educational system. I guess they really don't believe that much power (central world government) in the hands of men can be dangerous. All they have to do is look at Iraq and Saddam if they don't care to travel back in time to Nazi Germany. Seehow one man rules that nation with an iron fist. We better keep our national boundaries and our flags flying lest we deliver the world into the hands of a megalomaniac in the not to distant future.The teachers are echoing what they have been educated to believe by those espousing globalism in academia.

Arrow>>>>>

Thanks for the heads up sending an e-mail also...

[thedrifter]

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) -- After complaints that the children of soldiers were upset by anti-war comments at school, Maine's top education official warned teachers to be careful of what they say in class about a possible invasion of Iraq.

The Maine Army National Guard has received a dozen reports of children of guard members in elementary and middle schools who said teachers and fellow students have criticized the looming conflict.

Maj. Peter Rogers quoted parents as saying their children have come home upset or depressed because of comments in class and on the playground.

"They were hearing comments like, 'The pending war in Iraq is unethical' and 'Anybody who would fight that war is also unethical,"' Rogers said. "So children who are already losing family members to deployment were understandably upset."

Charles Haynes of the Freedom Forum, an educational organization in Arlington, Virginia, said he has received several dozen e-mails and phone calls in recent months from parents concerned that teachers are unfair or biased in how they address the issue of Iraq in the classroom.

Haynes urged schools to keep alive classroom discussions about Iraq, and present different views on the issue, even if there have been complaints about teaching methods or teacher comments.

"Often it is a misunderstanding of what the teacher is trying to do," he said. "But it's also the case that some teachers have a political agenda they can't keep out of the classroom, and that they must do."

In Maine, Department of Education Commissioner Duke Albanese sent a memo to superintendents and principals, writing that it had been brought to his attention some school personnel had been "less than sensitive to children of military families regarding our continued strained relations with Iraq."

He said discussion should allow for questions and differences of opinion, but "be grounded in civil discourse and mutual respect."

The issue has also grabbed the attention of Republican Sen. Susan Collins and Gov. John Baldacci.

"Any suggestion that their parents are doing something wrong is extremely unfortunate and could have a harmful effect, particularly on young children," Collins said.

Baldacci said he's "disappointed" by the actions of some educators in public school systems.

The school system is to teach. It's not there for teachers to preach their political bias. That is an abuse of power.


Sempers,

Roger

[Andy]

Whenever I hear the politically correct, left wing talk about groups that they "know" are wrong or bad I like to replace the noun they use to see if their views are really free thinking.
Along the idea that service men and women are bad people, unethical, etc. how about replacing the term service men/women with the word black or the minority group of your choice. Left wingers would freak out. They would freak out not because of that is said but who it's being said about. The people being dumped on are not who they decide are best to pick on.
As far as the people in the service, well, lots of us put up with the left wing during Vietnam, big deal, they do have freedom of speech. However you tell my 7 year old daddy is bad because of his job, forget the law suits, look out for my left jab.
With rights come responsibilities.

Stay healthy,
Andy

[Keith_Hixson]

Wait for a few others to come and help hold them! That way it makes hitting them a little easier.

Keith

[reconeil]

Still, I think that for The Fanatical and Religious Left,...this is a new low. REALLY,...GROWN-UPS taking advantage of their positions and authority to fill Little Kiddies heads with hurtful anti-America dribble and/or anti-American Left-Wing propaganda.

I initially thought that no person in Maine could ever do anything so despicable. But then, I remembered that "They" just love having a large contingent of Somali ("Black Hawk Down" types) IMMIGRANTS there. So, and since believing that's where Somalis belong (the more-the merrier), who-the-hell can know what The Teachers of Maine are actually thinking about on any matter of importance?

Regardless, my condolences to The Taxpayers of Maine, plus Their Children,...since I believe both are getting truly short-changed by their Berkley-like educators. Besides, aren't such young children actually to young for a radical Left-Wing and/or Liberal University type education? I think so.

Neil